Device for increasing effectiveness of neon signs



. 5, 1939. J. H. PEARLMAN DEVICE -FOR INCREASING EFFECTIVENESS OF NEON SIGNS Filed Sept. 7, 1937 Patented Dec. 5, 1939 V lPAT-Eni' oFFlcE,

DEVICE'FOR INCREASING EFFECTIVENESS F NEON SIGNS Joseph H. Pearlman, Des Moines, Iowa Application september 7, 1937, serial No. 162,718

. 4 Claims.

-an improvement in the usual neon type sign whereby the proportions of the letters comprising the sign as they appearto the eye can be improved, and the effectiveness of .the sign thereby increased.

Another object is to provide means whereby the amount of effective illumination from the sign may be increased.

More particularly an object is to provide means whereby the stroke of a letter or the width of the stem of a letter as it appears to the observers eye may be increased.

Another particular object is to provide means whereby a so-called spectacular sign may be constructed at much less cost -than by the ordinary method.

Another object is to furnish means for utilizing light emanating from the sides and back of the illuminant tube which would otherwise not reach the eye of the observer and would consequently be of no effect and could be considered wasted.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,

poined out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of the letter I of a neonized sign of thefconventional type. Y

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross section on the 'line 2-2 of Figure 1.

f sign showing how my invention is applied to a curved letter. I

Figure 6 is ahorizontal cross section on the line 6 6 of Figure 5 showing a form of my invention as adapted for sub-surface mounting in bodying my invention.

In the ordinary type of neon Sign, a luminous tube Ill` in the shape of a letter, in Figure 1 the of the stroke.

letter I is mounted by suitable insulating supports to the base portion I4 of the sign. The insulating supports for the neon tube are omitted from the drawing inasmuch as they are not a part of my invention and would unnecessarily 5 confuse the disclosure in the drawing. The letter may be outlined by a channel member I6 having a bottom portion IB and side anges 20. The inner surfaces of the channel are painted in some color which contrasts with the color l0 used on the front surface of the4 base portion I4 and the outer surfaces of the ilanges 20. The contrast in colors serves to give bv adth and the channel gives apparent depth to the letters in daytime illumination. At night, however, inasl5 much as the painted surfaces do not have much reflecting power for the light from the neon tubes, the principal impression given lto the eye. is that of the glowing neon tubes themselves and these of necessity are very much narrower`- than the 20.V

channels, or where channels are not used, than the painted letters on the back of the sign.` The channel or painted letters are sometimes hardly visible by the neon illumination at night, particularly at great distances, and consequently do not contribute substantially to the night time effectiveness of the sign.. v A

In a properly proportioned sign letter which is pleasing tothe eye, the stroke or width of the stem of the letter should be approximately onefifth the height of the letter. A letter five feet high, for example, should have a stroke one foot wide. v

'The limitations of gaseous discharge tubes, such as the neon tubes used in signs, are such that the tubes are made of the order of one inch or less in diameter. In view of this fact it lwill be readily seen that in large signs having letters several feet in height, where a single neon tube is used in the form of the letter, the 5 to 1 ratio 40 of height to stroke cannot be maintained. Under night time or low visibility conditions, the stroke of the letters will appear to the eye to be the diameter of the tubing and therefore will be much less than one-fifth the height of the letters; Because of the narrow, stringy character of the letterV lit does not have the pleasing quality and eectiveness of a bold, full stroke letter.

To remedy this weakness it has been customary in making large signs, or .spectaculars," to outline the full stroke letter in gas tubing instead of running a single tube down the center Or, in some cases, a plurality of tubes running close together have been usedto completely-fill the stroke of'the letter. Either 55 'of these methods, while achieving the desired proportions of the neonlzed letter, obviously involves great increases both in the original cost and in the operating cost of the Sien, as compared to the single tube style. By the use of my invention the effect of a full stroke letter maybe obtained with a single neon tube with a relatively small increase in the rst/ cost of the sign and no increase in operating cost. My invention involves a reflector formed in the shape of the letter and having multiple mirror facets arranged acro the stroke of the letter, parallel to the neon tubing in the center, and at such an angle that each facet reflects an image of the tube to the eye of the observer.

.Figure 3 illustrates my invention embodied in a letter I of a sign. *The neon tube 22 is mounted on suitable supports, not shown, and is backed by a reector referred to generally as 2t. V'Ilhe reector 26 has the outline o f the desired letter and the proper proportion of stroke to height. I'he reflector has-portions 28, 80, 32, 34 and 36, each comprising reflecting surfacessubstantially parallel to the neon tube and each being .arranged to reect an image of the tube, as indicated by the rays represented by the dotted lines 31' in Figure d. 'Ihe reflected images are shown in dotted lines at 85 in Figure 3, The eect, to the observers ere, is substantially the same as if the letter were composed of a plurality of parallel neon tubes within the space between adjacent pairs of. images on opposite sides of the tube equal to each other. At a distance, because of the limited resolving power of the eye, the separate bands of the reflected images seem to blend in one broad stroke in a letter of the proper proportions.

Figure 5 shows how my invention will be applied to other letters, the letter S being represented in the drawing. 'l'he mirror facets will follow the curves or straight portions of the letter. maintainingthe proper angle to the center light or neon tube.

The reiiectors may be cast in glass or other moldable or plasticmaterial and may be clear or colored, depending upon the effect desired.' They may be silvered or otherwise provided with refleeting surfaces on either the inner or outer faces. The reiiectors may also be formed of metal and haverefiector surfaces provided by plating or po 'Mymvenucn-isadapted u be used in types of'signs. For example, it may be used in cut-out signs, and the reector may be inserted in a letter-shaped aperture, such as I8 of Figure 8, cut in the base portion 3B of thevign, in the same manner as the common opalite glass sign letters, In Figure 6 the reflector is shown as -having'ilan'ges Il! through which screws` 42 may., be passed for attaching the redactor to the base The reectormay also bem'ade in a pattern suitable for surface mounting, as illustrated 'for example in Figure 4. In this case theflanges are turned inwardly as at 4 2 and serve principalLv for reinforcement. The reectcr is mounted on the base M by screws passed through the re- Ailectorxalong its center line. Either the cut-out mounting of Figure 6 or the surface mounting of Figure 4 may be used in connection with channels and, by way of illustration; flanges have been shown at I8 in Figure 4 to provide char/i'- nel fonnations.

In order not to complicate the'drawing, onlyv two inclined reflecting surfaces 28, 30 and 34,

have been-shown on each side of thecenter' by the observers eye aieasss portion 82. However, the reecior may incore porate any suitable number of such surfaces and I do not wish to be limited to the number shown in the drawing. The reflecting surfaces may be of plane character, such as indicated by the straight line portions in Figure 6, 'or they may be curved. I'have shown diagrammatically in Figures 7, 8- and 9 modified forms of my reflector in which the reflecting surfaces are curved. Figv ure 7 shows a particular modification in which the vsurfaces are convex as at Ell. Figure 8 represents a modication in which the surfaces are concave as at 52. Figure 9 is, a Amodification wherein both convex and concave surfaces are employed, shown at 54 and E6. Curved surfaces Because of the low reffecting power of the ordinary painted surfaces for the light given 0E by the neon tube in the usual type of sign, practically the only light reaching the observers eye -is that which comes directly from the neon tube.

Light is given oi from the tube in all directions from its axis and consequently,l if only the small portion of this direct light which is intercepted can be considered useful, all'that given od toward the sides and back of the tube tion, liy1 reflecting the light given oil from these latter portions, I utilize it to increase the eilectiveness of the sign and the result is that a greater amount of light isreected to the observers eye with no increase in the electrical operating cost lof the sign. This is in addition to the fact that the effectiveness of the sign as an advertising or display device is increased because the full-bodied letter which my invention produces is much more pleasing to the eye.

more or less wasted. In my construc- Somevchanges may be made in the construction and arrangement of the 'parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover 'by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

' I claim asmy invention: 1..In a gaseous tubesign letter, adapted to be mounted 'on a back board, adischarge tube formed in the shape of a letter, a reflector disposed rear-,

wardly of said tube and having substantially the same letter shape as said tube, said reflector comprising a plurality of parallel reflector strips disposed at an angle toy each other such that theA directions of rays from the centers of said strips Y. are substantially parallel,- side elements for mounting the reflector to saidback board comprising stripsjsecured to the ends of the outermost ofsaid reflectors directed backward toward said' back board and bent into the formof anv L fonning a leg having a length equal tothe distance between the center of said reflector' to the outermost edges and means forsecuring the center of said reflector to said back board to draw said legs into supporting engagement therewith. 2. In a gaseous tube sign letter. a back board for supportingsaid letter havingl an aperture therein formed in the shape of said letter, a gaseous tube `formed in the shape of said letter adapted to be positioned centrally of said aperture, a reflector disposed rearwardly of said tube having substantially the same letter shape as said tube, said reflector comprising a plurality of parallel reflecting strips located on the side and rear of said tube forming a reecting surface extending the full width of said aperture, .side elements. for securing said reflecting surface therein comprising strips attached to the outermost end of the reflector and extending rearward into said aperture and. having the free ends thereof bent angularly to provide a means for engaging the back wall at the rear face thereof. Y

3. In a gaseous tube display device, adapted be mounted on a supporting surface, a discharge tube formed in any desired ligure, and a reflector disposed rearwardly of said tube. spaced there- .20 from and having substantially the same .figure posed rearwardly of said tube,said reflector comshape as said tubefsaid reflector comprlsinga plurality of parallel reflector strips on each side of said tube, said strips being disposed at an angle to each other such that a discreteimage Qi the tube is reflected from eachstrip to the eye of an observer'in front of the device.

4. In a gaseous tube display device, adapted to be mounted on a supporting surface, a discharge tube formed in any desired figure, a reflector disl0 prising a plurality o! reflector strips on each side of said tube, said strips being disposed at angles to each other such that the rays from said discharge tube are reflected from the centers of each of said reecting strips in substantially parallel directions, and spacing elements extending rearwardly from said reiiector,\thefree ends' of said elements engaging the supporting surface.

JOSEPH H. PEARLMAN. zo 

